112 THE SPENCER GULF DISTRICT 



almost within reach of our hands. "Camp" is rather a 

 misleading term, but it is in general use, and is well 

 understood in Australia to mean no more than a fire and 

 a " shake-down " on the ground. No bushman seeks for 

 better accommodation in summer-time, but in winter it is 

 occasionally a little trying to lie out in the open. The 

 nights may be very chilly, and during this journey we had 

 several unpleasant drenchings. The rain fell in torrents 

 between midnight and two or three o'clock in the morning, 

 putting out the fire, and benumbing us with a penetrating 

 coldness that deprived us, for a time, of the full use of our 

 limbs. 



The rainfall is more or less uncertain in most parts of 

 Australia, and the fall of one or two years is no guide to 

 that of the average of a district ; but I feel sure that in 

 the Torrens district there is a greater rainfall than is 

 commonly believed. The water is quickly absorbed, but 

 it does not sink further than a few feet, and there is no 

 good reason for considering this land an irreclaimable 

 desert. On the contrary, I am convinced that it will some 

 day become a highly cultivated and thickly peopled region. 



What the mining wealth of the district is I do not feel 

 qualified to state with any degree of assurance. I saw no 

 signs of auriferous reef; but there is copper in the northern 

 part of Flinder's range, and profitable salt works could 

 be established on the Torrens marsh. 



As a general result of my rambles in this part of the 

 continent, I have formed the opinion that Torrens and 

 Eyre lakes were anciently a portion of Spencer Gulf, and 

 probably the sea at one time almost cut Australia in two ; 

 indeed it would not surprise me if the old theory that 

 Spencer and Carpentaria gulfs were, in former days, in 

 communication with each other, should prove to be a 

 correct hypothesis. 



